In a step to ease state agency handling of social services programs, the USDA announced that contractors can “provide basic case-specific information” about food stamp applications — work that is usually handled by civil servants. An anti-hunger advocate said the USDA had provided too few details to tell if the flexibility would result in the modernization of service or error-riddled privatization.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the new federal “guidance” would allow the officials that operate the food stamp program in each state “to streamline access to multiple programs, improve efficiency, and provide great customer service.” In many states, a single agency runs programs such as Medicaid and welfare that serve overlapping groups of people. Some of those programs trigger eligibility for food stamps.
The USDA said the food stamp program is unique in that it requires state employees to decide whether applicants are eligible for benefits. Although under the agency’s new guideline, private contractors can provide basic information to applicants, civil servants will continue to determine if benefits will be issued. In the past, contractors were allowed to administer a smaller set of activities. The USDA said that it recently approved requests from Michigan and Louisiana for such flexibility and that its new guidance is a signal to other states about how similar requests will be received.
“I encourage all states with an interest in this new flexibility to consider this change in policy, especially states looking for better ways to align their operations across multiple programs,” said Perdue.
The USDA announcement did not describe the range of activities that would be open for contractors to perform nor was the guidance document easily available on the Food and Nutrition Service website.
Indiana launched the privatization of social programs, including food stamps, a decade ago, then canceled the initiative in 2009 “following complaints from welfare clients, lawmakers, and others about long wait times, lost documents, and improper rejections,” said the Indianapolis Star. Under a 10-year contract, an IBM-led team of vendors processed applications for safety net programs through call centers, the internet, and fax machines, said the Star. The state and IBM sued each other in the bitter aftermath of the failed effort.
An anti-hunger advocate said Indiana’s experience shows how state management of social services “can matter a lot” and how there is “a lot of risk” when operations are changed. The advocate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said it was appropriate “to be cautious and see the details” of the USDA’s change in the rules for contract workers.